


Broken Strings

by empvthy



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: "minor" character death, Angst, Diego Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, but not rlly graphic, eudora lives, mentions of violence/torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 12:14:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18388232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empvthy/pseuds/empvthy
Summary: After Hazel and Cha-Cha attack the academy, instead of Klaus, they kidnap and torture Diego.





	Broken Strings

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo, I haven't written anything proper in like 8 months (so excuse if this is maybe a lil' rusty), but I couldn't stop thinking about this concept so here we are!  
> I'm fairly satisfied with this though, so I hope you enjoy! As much there is to enjoy yet-

Diego was on edge. Well, technically he was always on edge, but this was worse.

Because before he knew what was happening, he was ducking behind a couch as the sound of gunshots echoed through the open area of the living room and just moments later he was fighting one of those freaks in the kitchen alongside Allison.

When said freak decided to make a run for it, Allison handed Diego a knife and as he heard a grunt of pain, that told him the knife landed right where it was supposed to, he almost felt relieved.  
It's not like that he doubted his power, not anymore at least, but he didn't quite trust himself right now. He tried telling himself this was no different than all the crime scenes he'd cleared up before, but deep down he knew that wasn't true. Because his family was here and his family was in _danger_.

“You good?”, Allison's voice ripped him out of his thoughts again and he released a breath he didn't know he had been holding. 

“Yeah,” he replied slowly, “of course. You?” 

She shot him a smirk, then, “Never been better.”

“Expected no less from my sister. Come on now, we're not done with them yet. You go downstairs and check in with the others, I'll go after that bitch.”

“Are you sure?”, she raised an eyebrow, Diego nodded.

“Yeah, I'll be fine. Take care.” Allison nodded back and so they parted again.

The dark-haired man went to his room to grab a few knives, stopping in his tracks when the nearby staircase creaked.  
Taking a knife in his hand, he slowly peeked around the corner, only to see the maniac from before dragging herself down the stairs. 

Another knife thrown, another grunt of pain and then she was on the ground, cursing under her breath as Diego stepped out into the hallway.

“You really shouldn't underestimate us.”, Diego mocked casually, kicking the gun out of her hand.  
What he didn't notice however was Hazel, the second party of the intruders, who appeared behind him. 

“I would say the same.”, the woman in front of him said and it was the last thing he heard before he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and everything went black.

\-----

When Diego woke up again, everything was pitch black. He tried to move but it was to no avail, his hands and legs were tied, barely any room for movement. Trying to scream was pointless as well, his mouth had been taped shut so that no more than muffled sounds rang back into his ears.

He couldn't move, he couldn't see, he couldn't speak and, worst of all, he couldn't _breathe_.  
The enclosed space didn't exactly provide much oxygen and what he sucked in through his nose wasn't enough.

He couldn't move, he couldn't see, he couldn't speak and he couldn't breathe.  
And suddenly he wasn't Diego Hargreeves at the age of 29, who had just been kidnapped by two maniacs in masks, no, suddenly he was Number 2 again, small and scared, unable to move, see, speak or breathe because his hands and legs were tied and there was water everywhere and _he couldn't breathe_ and his lungs were burning and every second he thought he was going to die but the sweet release never came and if he cried, _oh_ , if he cried afterward, it made everything worse and he couldn't breathe and he couldn't speak and he couldn't see and he couldn't move and it had to stopstopstopstopstop-

Diego gasped, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to drown out the memories. He wasn't Number 2 anymore, Reginald wasn't here anymore, no one was going to lock him in a tank of water anymore. He repeated these things in his head like a mantra again and again, until eventually his brain cleared up and he could remotely control his breathing again.

He wasn't Number 2 anymore. He was Diego Hargreeves at the age of 29, who had just been kidnapped by two maniacs in masks. It really wasn't the ideal situation either but if he was being honest, he much preferred _this_.

And, whether one would call that lucky or not, it didn't take too long until something above him opened and, squinting his eyes, he could see the two intruders - or, well, kidnappers now - standing above him.  
They didn't say a word as they dragged him out of what he now knew was the trunk of their car, but obviously he didn't just comply. He tried to wiggle himself out of their grip multiple times, was however knocked out again by the woman who apparently wasn't quite of the patient sort.

\-----

Again he awoke, his head pulsing, and his hands and legs were still tied, this time to the chair he was sitting on. Looking around, he quickly realised he was in a motel room, the two lunatics in the other corner of said room.

“So, our man's finally up again,” the woman started, walking over to him. “Where is Five?”

Diego huffed, “I don't know.” Which was obviously the wrong answer because next thing he knew, she slapped him straight across the face. 

“I asked where Five is.”, she repeated, this time more edge in her voice.

“Yeah, and I said I don't know.” Another hit in the face.  
“We can play this game for a while.”, she threatened, although her lack of patience told him otherwise.

“Me too.”, his reply was followed by yet another slap, his cheek starting to sting. “But I'm afraid it won't get you anywhere because I don't know where the fuck my brother is. And even if I did...”, he trailed off, a dry laugh escaping his throat and, man, he'd regret this. “I sure as hell wouldn't tell you.”

And regretting it he sure did, because _now_ she was angry, balling her hand to a fist before it found its way to Diego's face and for a moment he thought she just broke his nose, but ''luckily'' that wasn't the case.

He sighed internally, this was going to be a long ride. 

And it was. They just didn't let go no matter how many times he told them he didn't know shit and no matter how true that was. He expected they'd run out of patience after a while but they never did and by the time the sun had risen, his face and shirt were bloody all over and it hurt like a bitch.

By then, the woman had also lost her cool as she grabbed something from the table and suddenly a thin rope was around his neck and she was strangling him. He wanted to laugh, technically what she was doing was clever, only did it next to nothing to Diego who didn't even _need_ to breathe, only really bothered by the way the material cut into his neck.

“Number Five, where is he?!”, she yelled, slowly letting go of him so that he would be able to speak. 

“How often do I have to tell you that _I don't know_?!”, he was starting to get pissed as well. He didn't have time for this. 

“You wanna be strangled some more then?”

This time he couldn't help but chuckle, flashing her a wicked grin. “What if I'm into choking?” He wasn't really, not at all, actually, but the look on her face and the followed groan of frustration were absolutely worth saying so.  
And while he might have been the one tied to a chair, he certainly didn't feel inferior to them anymore. At first he was impressed at how persistent they were, but the longer he was there, the less intimidating these two really were. They were almost a joke. 

That was, until the woman, whose name was apparently Cha-Cha, turned to her partner and said: “Let's waterboard him.” Then she stood behind him again, pressing a washcloth to his face as Hazel started to pour the water over it.

And all of a sudden Diego really wished he had shut his mouth so she would've just continued strangling him because now he had to focus and try not to panic all over again because there was _water_ and he couldn't _breathe_.

He breathed hard when they retreated again, his body now shaking while his eyes scanned the room, wild and unfocused.

“Oh? Seems like we've hit a weak spot there.”, the man noted, earning a nod from Cha-Cha.

“Let's do it again.”, she ordered and then they did so. 

Diego shook his head, crying out for them to stop, only for his voice to be muffled by the cloth. 

“Okay, fine, I- I'll talk. J-just stop, please, I'll talk.”, his voice grew more desperate with each word, the two lunatics on the other hand fairly pleased by their achievement.

“Spit it out, then.”, the woman told him.

“Yeah, I'm- I-”, he stopped again, trying to catch his breath before he continued. “I seriously don't know where Five is, t-that wasn't a lie. He's...he's been acting weird since he came back though.”

“Elaborate.”, Hazel ordered this time.

“He- He's watching this lab all the time and he keeps this prosthetic eye with him, s-saying it has something to do with the end of the world or something...”, he stopped when his words had apparently caught their interest. They looked at each other for a moment, then burst into action, taping his mouth shut again and shoving him into the closet before they left. He let his head drop, hoping that Five wasn't there at the time.  
And then he waited. At one point he dozed off, the exhaustion mixed with the pain taking a toll on him. 

He jerked awake again when he heard a loud noise coming from the room. A vacuum cleaner. The motel staff. He started to scream even though the sounds were muffled, praying that he would be heard. It was no use however. The person cleaned the room and left without even looking into the closet and so he was alone again, tied to a chair and stuck in a closest of a yucky motel room.

And then he wondered if he was going to die here. Hazel and Cha-Cha most definitely didn't seem like they were going to let him go again, no matter if they got what they wanted or not. And his chances of anyone finding him was low, to say the least.  
He questioned if his siblings even noticed he was gone. Klaus, maybe, because he'd be missing the one giving him a ride. Or maybe Allison, considering she was the last one who had seen him. But would they care?

Diego had to laugh at that. No one would care. No one had a reason to. It's not like anyone was going to miss him. His siblings didn't need him. Al might be annoyed, but he'd find someone else to keep the gym clean, Diego was sure. 

Eudora? Again a laugh. She'd probably be glad if he stopped appearing at her crime scenes. Happy that he finally stopped annoying him at any given chance, happy that he was gone.

Again a shake of his head. Eudora wouldn't think like that.

Or would she?

\------

Meanwhile, said detective Patch had started her investigation at the lab that had been set on fire barely an hour ago. 

“Did you find anything?”, the dark-haired woman asked Beeman.

“Well, the fire inspector says that the speed of the blaze indicates that an accelerator was used”, he started to explain, “oh, and uh..we found this.”, he held up a strange piece of fabric. 

“Get that over to the lab immediately”, Patch told him, then stopped in her tracks at what she spotted then. “...I'll be right back.”

She walked over to the van, checking the note on it's windscreen. “YOUR BROTHER SAYS HI” it read and the flyer of a motel was attached to the wiper.

“Ah, shit!”, a sudden voice snapped her back into reality and next to her now stood a boy in a uniform, he couldn't have been much older than 15 at best.

“What are you doing here, kid? You really shouldn't be at a place like this, come on, I'll lea-”

“ _Don't_ call me _kid_.”, the boy interrupted quickly, “I'm probably about twice as old as you.”

Patch furrowed her brows, confused by the kid's words. “Yeah, sure, so then this van belongs to you as well, huh?”, she asked in an almost mocking tone.

“Yes. It does.”, he replied, voice highly on edge, leaving Patch to shake her head. 

“What's your name then?”

He paused for a moment, obviously reluctant. If his parents didn't teach him how to respect elders and stay away from places he wasn't supposed to be at, they sure taught him to be careful around strangers, she thought.

“Name's Five. Five Hargreeves.”, he did answer in the end, picking Eudora's interest again.

“Wait, Hargreeves? You- You're one of Diego's siblings?”, she questioned and suddenly what he'd been saying started to make more sense. “You're the one with the time-travelling ability?”

“No shit, Sherlock.”

Instead of bothering to reply to that, with a roll of her eyes she turned to the motel flyer again. “Don't go there, this is most definitely a trap.”, she hummed thoughtfully.

“Obviously. They're after me, I'd be one hell of an idiot to go there.”

“Who is after you? And...do you think they really have one of your brothers?”

“Well, they're dangerous. I wouldn't be surprised if they're actually holding one of my siblings hostage. Either way, I can't go there.”, he mumbled, then flashed her a smile that looked too polite to be genuine. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got better things to do than hold a tea ceremony here.”

And gone he was. Patch sighed, this boy sure was quite something.  
Then again, considering he belonged to the Hargreeves, she wasn't really surprised in the slightest.

So she took the motel flyer, an uncomfortable feeling setting in her guts.

\-----

“You idiot”, a familiar female voice called out after the door had been opened, snapping Diego back into reality.

“What?”

“You didn't put the ''Do not disturb'' sign on the door!”, Cha-Cha yelled.

“I did! I know I-”, Hazel started to defend himself, stopping when he turned around to see said sign at the inside of the door, then, “Shit!”

Hectic footsteps came closer and the door was ripped open, revealing the bare faces of the two lunatics that had kidnapped Diego.

“Oh my god, he's still here.”, Hazel let out a sigh of relief as they grabbed the chair and pulled Diego back into the middle of the room.

When the woman yanked the tape from his mouth, he couldn't hold back a chuckle. “You guys look even more ridiculous without those masks.”

Again a slap from Cha-Cha, before Hazel added: “That's no way to say hello to your old friends, is it?”

Diego didn't answer him, instead he told them to let him go, now that he gave him what they asked for. He knew it wasn't going to do anything, but trying couldn't hurt. 

“Well, technically we want your brother. Is your brother here now?”, Cha-Cha asked rhetorically.

“He's not going to come. No one will.”

“Your brother knows now. We left him a message. And when he comes for you, we'll be ready.”

This made Diego laugh again. Were they really that stupid? “My brother may have a few screws loose, but he's not a fool. He's not going to fall for such a lame trick.”

She slapped him again, which was expected. Unexpected however was when she pulled out a gun and pointed it at Diego. Even Hazel seemed surprised. 

“Wait! Are you sure that's a good idea?”, said man questioned and before his partner could respond, Diego spoke up again.

“What, you're gonna kill me now? You know, me, dead, won't be of much help. Hell, if Five finds out you killed me, you're about dead, too. I expected you to comprehend at least this much with that brain of yours.” He was aware saying this was a mistake, but he sure wouldn't let these guys feel superior. Not as long as he lived.

And a shot fell. But to Diego's surprise, the bullet didn't go through his head. Instead, pain started to bloom in his right leg and hell did it hurt. He assumed he should be grateful though, because it was _only_ his leg and he wouldn't die from that all so soon. 

“You should really shut your damn mouth or you won't be seeing tomorrow.”, she growled, most obviously pissed. Then she leaned forward so that her face was only inches away from his. “Can your brain comprehend this much?”

And for a moment he _did_ consider to stay silent at that, he wasn't exactly keen on dying here, but part of him couldn't dare to follow her order. 

“Suck my dick.”, he replied instead, emphasizing each word separately before spitting her in the face. Again, terrible idea, he knew, but he couldn't resist. The way her eyes widened and she looked purely offended was almost worth it. 

If it wasn't for the fact that she now pulled out a knife, which he could immediately tell was his, and seconds later he could feel that knife stuck in his left shoulder. When she decided to twist the knife, he could swear he saw stars for a moment, pure agony being sent through his whole body. He didn't even catch what Cha-Cha said to Hazel before his mouth was taped shut again and the two suddenly disappeared in the bathroom. 

Despite the amount of pain, he let out a breath of relief. He might have a bullet wound in his leg, a knife stuck in his shoulder and blood all over him, but at least he was still alive. Although he was starting to question for how long that'd last at this point.

A moment passed like that as he tried to stay calm and ignore the pain, when something flashed in front of the window. A shadow. _A person._ His heart skipped a beat and he frantically looked around, pondering about how he could draw attention to him. Screaming was no use, it was muffled by the tape so that it surely wouldn't be heard outside.  
That's when he spotted the table next to him. It was stupid, really, but it seemed like his only option right now, so he tried to inch a little closer, took a breath and banged his head on the table. Then a second time. A third, a fourth and a few more, hoping, praying, whoever was out there would hear it. This was probably his last chance, they wouldn't keep him alive for much longer and even if they didn't kill him, he'd totally bleed out sooner or later.

He stopped after a few more attempts, laying his pounding head on the table as he gave up, not very convinced it had been of any use at all.

Then, however, he heard a noise and the door was being unlocked.

**Author's Note:**

> Congrats, you made it this far!  
> I purposely ended this here because I sure as hell plan to write a second chapter for this that should hopefully be out very soon! So look out for that, I'll get more into the feels there.  
> Anyways, thank you for reading!!! Have a good day/night!


End file.
